Prayer Pledge 2017: Day 20

I’m traveling today, which always has the same effect on my prayer life. In airports bustling with people I’ve never met, on trains full of strangers, on the highway watching other cars go by, I find myself wondering about the people that are so physically close to me, even though I know nothing about them.

Over time, I have started to pray for strangers. Praying that each person I see has their burdens lifted a little today, that their travels are easy, that they are on the way to someone who loves them. This practice has started to extend to the people I meet briefly in the world, at the post office or the grocery store.

Today, I have one prayer for those I encounter: that they will each encounter God in some small way.

6 Comments

Cherilynn Lombardi

January 20, 2017 at 5:37 am

My husband investigates fires, he is on call 24/7, so often times he is called in the middle of the night or at dinner time. I obviously pray for his safety, but I fervently pray for the victims; living, injured or departed who have been severely affected by the unexpected sometimes intentional tragedy. I pray for their health, peace, recovery and that they receive justice.

Sarah J.

Sometimes my heart just bursts with love and prayer for my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ in airports, malls, busy intersections, store lines. I usually pray with Paul from Ephesians 3,
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Wow, this is a powerful one. Sometimes in the past when I was taking a city bus to work, people close to me were a bother. Something to wish would go away or not bother me. I am still working on changing this view of others but this idea is wonderful and truly a way to stop being afraid or annoyed in it’s tracks. This one truly stays in my heart

Abi

January 20, 2017 at 8:03 am

It’s funny, I tend to have the exact same sentiments whenever I travel. I am always in awe of the fact that God knows each person’s story, which prompts me to praise Him for his creativity and his unending love. Today I am praying for my boss, whose husband was recently diagnosed with cancer. She is weathering the storm ok, but I don’t know how she does it without a faith to lean on in such times of distress. When she told my co=workers and me, I wanted to wrap my arms around her and invite everyone to cover her in prayer, but I work in an independent school that is pretty strictly laconic. Fear caused me to ignore that prompting, which I regret. I have resolved to invite others to join me in praying for her after hours. I truly believe prayer will make a difference and that it’s worth taking the time to do so with my community.

Recently, I was walking through Walmart. I was having a problem with something in the store and I needed to talk to a manager. Many customers and Walmart workers were passing me by. I was trying to look at the worker’s nametag to see if any of them said “Manager.” One lady looked at me rather strangely when I did this. I replied to her that I was simply looking to see if she was a manager. Her reply to me was: I’m nobody!. It stopped me in my tracks. After a few words I told her she was never “nobody” and God was present and working in her life every day. She smiled and we went on about our day. God is everywhere, everyday. Not everyone knows that!